


Rewind

by Mystic_Ender



Series: Smile for Me [3]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: M/M, apparently I cannot stop the angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Ender/pseuds/Mystic_Ender
Summary: Jeremy moves through his memories, remembering his high school days. He remembers his senior year when he first met Michael. He remembers how he slowly fell in love with him without noticing, and he remembers the bleachers of the soccer field.He felt like he was moving through a tape, rewinding it to see his favorite movie again. Even if that tape was his mind, and the movie, his best memories.
Relationships: Michael Afton/Jeremy Fitzgerald
Series: Smile for Me [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855816
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Rewind

The first time Jeremy noticed the boy sitting in the bleachers, it was during his tryouts for the soccer team. He had been running around, kicking the ball around the cones and he missed it, sending it in the bleachers. He’d never really noticed people sticking around during those, mainly because the ones that did were girls fawning over the sweaty, more built boys. Sometimes they were their boyfriends, sometimes they weren’t. Not that he cared to know which girls were going out with who, anyway. He just wanted to join the team and hopefully make some friends for once in his life.

When Jeremy was jogging his way over to take the ball away and continue his tryouts, the boy had taken the ball in his hands, threw it at him, and jumped off the metal bleachers before running off the soccer field. Jeremy had then stood there, watching the spot from where he received the ball in some sort of weird daze before shaking out of it and running back before the coach warned him.

Jeremy started paying more attention after that.

“Hey, you know there’s this weird guy that stays around during training, right?” A new friend of Jeremy told him one day, in the locker room as they changed out of their uniforms and into their soccer shirts with their numbers printed onto it. “Stares at you, too. Think you’re gonna report him?”

“Yeah, I noticed him,” Jeremy told him, slamming the door of the locker shut and making sure it’s locked. As much as he wanted to trust his team, he still remembered the stunt they pulled on Harry when it was his birthday. Poor dude’s locker had been filled with shaving cream, and he had no clothing to change into that wasn’t covered in the white foam. “I don’t know, he’s just hanging out. If he starts leaving stuff in here, maybe I’ll report him then, but as far as I know, he’s just watching the training.”

They then started walking out of the lockers and onto the soccer field, before freezing and staring at his friend’s back. His friend turned towards him, confusion on his face as Jeremy stared back at him, as if lost in thought.

“What?”

“How did you know this dude stares at me anyway?” Jeremy asked, a smirk stretching on his face. He looked a bit like the Cheshire cat in that moment, he supposed. Jeremy punched him on the arm before continuing, laughing loudly, before continuing. “Have you been staring at me, too? Didn’t know I got the attention of all the boys!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want pretty boy!” His friend, even though he was a bit shorter than him, swung an arm over his shoulder and proceeded to drag him down a bit before rubbing his knuckles over Jeremy’s head, making the curls stick out in every direction. “Doesn’t change the fact I’ll beat your ass again today!”

“You know, it just means I’ll make sure to beat you this time around, Daniel!” Jeremy pushed his friend back and they both laughed as they caught up with the rest of the team, who soon started the usual warmups they did before separating the team in two and having a practice match. The blond admits looking over to the bleachers a couple of times, just to see if the usual guy was there, only to find that they were empty.

He was worried, he’ll admit, though he did not know why.

Every day, for a full month, Jeremy looked over to the bleachers during practice, hoping to find the usual boy waiting there, watching them during the tryouts. He didn’t even know why he was worried. He didn’t know his name, he didn’t know what kind of person he was, only that he sat around in the bleachers and watched him play. It might be because he acted like he was a fan. Yeah, that must be it.

It had to be it.

And finally, when the boy came back to sitting in the bleachers, the first thing Jeremy had noticed was how thin he looked. He didn’t know how he noticed, truly, since he didn’t get much more of a glance usually, but he did and he knew he looked terrible. Maybe it was because he remembers the cheeks being fuller, and the shoulders being wider. He didn’t know what trouble the boy was into, but Jeremy knew he simply couldn’t stand there and watch as he got worse.

“Daniel, wait,” Jeremy asked him, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder to stop him from going further. The boy stopped and turned towards Jeremy, looking at him in confusion, but quickly followed his gaze, which gave on the weirdo they always saw sitting there normally. “Tell the coach I’m not feeling well or something.”

“You’re sure Jere?” Daniel whispered, taking a step closer towards his friend before whispering quite loudly. “He looks like a creep. I wouldn’t put it past you if you wanted someone to back you up.”

“He looks like he can barely pack a punch right now, I’ll be fine,” Jeremy whispered back, before pushing Daniel off towards the couch, before making a motion with his hands for him to shoo. Daniel simply turned on his heels, walking away with his hands in the air. Once Daniel was far enough, Jeremy made his way towards the bleachers and started climbing them to reach the boy, who quickly started to look panicked and tried to leave before Jeremy reached him. “Wait, wait! I just want to talk!”

The boy stopped, feet near the stairs on the side, and looking ready to bolt at any moment despite how thin he was. He looked like he could collapse any moment, his eyes wide and panicked as he looked around like a wounded animal. It was the most heartbreaking thing Jeremy had seen in a while. The blond sat down near enough so that the boy would hear him, but not too much so that he would feel like he needs to rush off. He just sat there, watching his teammates run around on the field.

“Sooo… what’s your name?” Jeremy finally asked after a while, eyes drifting towards the brown-haired boy who had finally sat down on the edge of one of the benches, back straight as if Jeremy would start fighting any moment. At least he sat down, he supposed. When he didn’t answer, Jeremy continued without missing a beat. “Mine’s Jeremy. The boy with me is my friend Daniel. He’s nice, I guess, if only a bit of an ass sometimes.”

The boy still didn’t answer, and Jeremy continued making one-sided conversation. It ranged from his interest in computers, which his dad found annoying since he wanted his boy to become an athlete, to his favorite spots around the city. Jeremy did the same thing all week after training, hope rising in his chest as the boy sat closer and closer each time. Finally, on Friday, before going back home for the weekend, a whisper left the boy’s lips.

“My name’s Michael.”

And from that point on, their friendship had sparked. Jeremy had gotten the chance to watch as the boy started packing on weight again, his cheeks getting fuller again, his shoulders filling back out as they once did, and his hands being less boney than they had been when he first sat close enough that Jeremy could have put an arm around his shoulders if he wanted to. He noticed when the boy smiled more and warmth spread in his chest when he first heard Michael’s genuine laugh.

He didn’t know why he noticed all these little things. Truly, he didn’t. But it dawned on him when they first went to the movies together, Daniel coming along with some other members of the team, and Michael bringing a friend or two of his. They were all very loud compared to Michael’s quietness, though the brown-haired boy always made sure to be heard when he spoke. Or maybe that was just Jeremy.

It dawned on him why he noticed so many little things when they watched the movie, popcorn between them, and their hands touched. It felt as if sparks went through his arm and moved through his entire body, before setting his face on fire. He had taken his hand back and shoved whatever popcorn he had in his hand in his mouth. He couldn’t possibly like him, right? He wasn’t gay. Was he gay? No. There was no way.

But, as he looked back to Michael, who looked a little confused, his face got redder. Because, yes. He was very much gay for the boy next to him. It does explain why girls never interested him, however.

That year, when Prom came along, Jeremy’s heart broke in his chest when Michael told him he asked a girl to prom, someone named Karina. Jeremy had heard of her from his math class, she was quite shy. She had glasses, if he remembered well, but changed to contacts throughout the year. He had grouped with her for a small project. So, she wasn’t all that bad, he supposed, and well, if she was to end up being Michael’s girlfriend… she would be good for him. He smiled shakily to him, and nodded, congratulating him.

That night, he cried in his room, tears muffled by his pillow. He should have known. He should have known.

The next day, he asked the girl next to him in his French class, a brown-haired girl with bright brown eyes named Simone to go to prom with him. He would have preferred to go with Michael, but she would be nice to spend the night with. Who knows, they might become friends and spend time after school… maybe he would fall for her, instead. Maybe he would end up being normal, laughing with his best friend Michael as they drank beer during a barbecue about their teenage years.

Maybe it would be better this way.

Prom had been enjoyable, even if every time he danced with Simone, he couldn’t help but look over to the other side of the room, where Michael was laughing happily, twirling Karina around. They looked happy. He hoped they would be. When the song ended, Simone excused herself to go see her friends and go to the bathroom, go do whatever girls did in there, and Jeremy took the break to go sit outside near the bleachers. The music was strong and could almost be heard from where he sat, smoking his sadness away and trying to keep the tears from falling down.

“Jeremy, you’re okay?” Michael said, sitting next to him. His suit’s vest was on his knees, and his own pack of cigarettes was in his hands. He poked one through his lips and lit it up, watching the blond who simply stared at the soccer field in front of them. “Jere?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Karina?” Jeremy said, trying to keep his voice calm despite the tight knot in his throat that threatened to make the tears fall and show how he truly felt. It felt like his heart was being squeezed out of his chest just saying the name. 

“She’s gone freshen up,” Michael shrugged, exhaling the smoke in the cooling air around them. It was as dark as the clouds overhead, and everything was strangely peaceful compared to the inside of the gym, where teens were shaking their energy out and drinking obviously spiked punch. “Jere, seriously, what’s wrong? Come on, you’ve heard me rant enough times that you know I’d do the same for you.”

“...What if I crushed on a boy,” Jeremy began slowly, taking the cigarette out of his lips. He tried his best not to cry, or to look at Michael as he spoke. “How would you react?”

“I wouldn’t beat you up, if that’s what you mean,” Michael reassured him. His blue eyes kept boring into Jeremy’s head, and with a sigh, the other teen put his cigarette out. “I’m crushing on a boy, too. He’s very kind.”

“Oh yeah?” Jeremy’s heart started beating harder in his chest. Even though he was hopeful, this somehow made it worse. Michael was crushing on someone, and there were chances it wasn’t him. There were chances that if Jeremy told him he liked him, that it would ruin what they had. He didn’t want to lose it. “What’s he like?”

“A very oblivious dumbass, for one.” Michael scooted closer to Jeremy, and the blond didn’t even notice, too lost in his head as he looked ahead. His gaze took that cloudiness it had when he was deep in thought, analyzing memories or simply overthinking as he usually did. Michael noticed the recent red marks on Jeremy’s neck, and he felt stupid for not noticing how nervous his friend was. But it wasn’t important. “He also has the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“What?” Jeremy turned his head towards Michael, and his breath hitched in his throat when he noticed how close he was. Jeremy didn’t stop him when he got closer, and he didn’t stop him when his lips pressed against his lightly. In fact, he kissed him back, hand going to play in his long, loose hair. He felt lighter than he had ever been, a weight lifting off his shoulders.

Everything turned black around him, and suddenly he felt heavier. He could feel his eyes opening, but everything remained black around him. The surface under him was soft, too. Had he fallen asleep at Prom? Had Michael brought him home? He wondered if he explained to Simone what happened. 

He lifted himself up from the bed, and his hand moved around to try and reach the nightstand. Once fingertips made contact with the hard wood, he moved it around a bit again and once he touched the lamp, he found the little switch and flicked it on, to find it wouldn’t turn on. It remained dark around him, and confusion seeped him. Had his lightbulb finally burned out? He would need to ask his mom to buy more.

Movement could be felt from behind him, and arms slipped around his waist. The arms felt familiar, in a way he couldn’t tell, but it still caused him to lash out and panic. He hit someone, who hissed. The click of light was heard, but it still remained dark.

“Jere? Jere, it’s me, calm down.” Michael’s voice said, still rough from waking up. Jeremy would find it cute if he wasn’t busy panicking about the fact that Michael was in his bed. Had he drunk punch at prom? Had he gotten drunk enough to do something stupid?

“...Michael? Why are you in my room?” He started, and his breathing finally started calming down, even if he was still extremely confused as to what was going on. All of his memories ended after he kissed him for the first time. “And… why can’t I see?”

“Jeremy, you gotta calm down first.” Michael started, taking the blond’s hands in his own. The palms were more rough than he remembered, and he couldn’t help but pass his fingers over all the little cracks that covered them. He really did remember Michael’s hands to be softer.... it was weird. “What do you remember?”

“I… kissing. At Prom. We were outside, smoking, and you confessed, and…” A smile stretched on his face, and Jeremy’s face got all warm again as he continued passing his fingers on all the tiny cracks. He wondered if he would see them when the lights would be on again. “It was unexpected, you know. I’m just happy you did it,”

“Okay, okay…” Michael could be heard sighing, and Jeremy could feel something sinking in his gut. Had it been a mistake? He hoped not. Not when the best thing happened to him. He got confused when he heard Michael mutter about how this was farther than last time. “Jere, we’re both married right now. We graduated, I went to college. I started working as a nurse, as I wanted, and then… then you got in an accident.”

“...What?” He whispered, frowning. This sounded like a weird fever dream. Was he dreaming? But… no, he wasn’t. Because he clearly remembers seeing Michael walking on that stage to get his diploma and waving it at him from his spot up front. They had been told to sit by alphabetical order, so Michael had been upfront while Jeremy was farther back. Then the rest of the memories flooded in, and he remembered the pain going through his skull. He remembered waking up to complete darkness, hearing Michael’s voice cry that he was awake. He was so confused, but he was happy to have Michael holding his hand.

Tears flooded his face.

“Mike, Mike I’m so sorry.” He whispered, and he felt as he was slowly moved so that he was hugging Michael tightly. He didn’t even know why he was crying. He didn’t control this, he knew it, but it still felt like his fault. “I.. I forgot again. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Doll. It ain’t your fault,” Michael whispered, rubbing his husband’s back as reality came crashing back in. The night before he had woken up, thinking they had been in the middle of their wedding. He had been panicking, and he was just grateful this time around that he had been more peaceful waking up and remembering. It was painful to see, but the doctors had explained to him that this could happen. A lot of his brain had been affected, after all, and healing. They didn’t know if it would ever stop, but right now it would be at its worst as he recovered. “Do you want to go back to sleep?”

“...No. No. I… I don’t want to forget again.” Jeremy answered, scooting back a bit once the tears calmed down a bit. It was the second night in a row he wouldn’t have a full night of sleep, but he really did not want to forget even more this time around. “....I know you got work early, but… Can you stay awake?”

“...Yeah. I can dig up the wedding video again.” Michael proposed, kissing his husband on the forehead, where a scar was still forming. It was still extremely raw and Jeremy had to be extremely careful, but otherwise, it was on its path to healing. They had also discovered, that while Jeremy couldn’t see the video, the music did calm him down and the memories that came with it helped ground him a bit more.

“That’d be great.” He sighed, feeling his husband pull away so he can go dig into the boxes into their closet. Jeremy’s hand went to the ring on his finger, twisting it around and feeling the small dents on it. In the end, they had used the Lord of the Rings ring as their wedding bands. Another one had been made for Michael, though Jeremy used the original he had been gifted. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


End file.
